Alexandre Demeure

CAMELEON-RT: A software architecture reference model for distributed, migratable, and plastic user interfaces

This paper defines the problem space of distributed, migratable and plastic user interfaces, and presents CAMELEON-RT, a technical answer to the problem. CAMELEON-RT1 is an architecture reference model that can be used for comparing and reasoning about existing tools as well as for developing future run time infrastructures for distributed, migratable, and plastic user interfaces. We have developed an early implementation of a run time infrastructure based on the precepts of CAMELEON-RT.

Towards a new generation of widgets for supporting software plasticity: the ”comet”

This paper addresses software adaptation to context of use. It goes one step further than our early work on plasticity [5]. Here, we propose a revision of the notion of software plasticity that we apply at the widget level in terms of comets. Plasticity is defined as the ability of an interactive system to withstand variations of context of use while preserving quality in use where quality in use refers to the ISO definition. Plasticity is not limited to the UI components of an interactive system, nor to a single platform: adaptation to context of use may also impact the functional core, it may have an effect on the nature of the connectors, and it may draw upon the existence of multiple platforms in the vicinity to migrate all or portions of the interactive system. A new reference framework that structures the development process of plastic interactive systems is presented to cover these issues. The framework is then applied at the granularity of widgets to provide the notion of a comet. A comet is an introspective widget that is able to self-adapt to some context of use, or that can be adapted by a tier-component to the context of use, or that can be dynamically discarded (versus recruited) when it is unable (versus able) to cover the current context of use. To do so, a comet publishes the quality in use it guarantees, the user tasks and the domain concepts that it is able to support, as well as the extent to which it supports adaptation.

Model-driven adaptation for plastic user interfaces

User Interface (UI) plasticity denotes UI adaptation to the context of use (user, platform, physical and social environments) while preserving usability. In this article, we focus on the use of Model-Driven Engineering and demonstrate how the intrinsic flexibility of this approach can be exploited by designers for UI prototyping as well as by end-users in real settings. For doing so, the models developed at design-time, which convey high-level design decisions, are still available at run-time. As a result, an interactive system is not limited to a set of linked pieces of code, but is a graph of models that evolves, expresses and maintains multiple perspectives on the system from top-level tasks to the final UI. A simplified version of a Home Heating Control System is used to illustrate our approach and technical implementation.

The COMETs inspector: towards run time plasticity control based on a semantic network

In this paper, we describe the COMETs Inspector, a software tool providing user interface designers and developers with a semantic network in order to control the plasticity of their User Interfaces (UI) at run-time. Thanks to a set of predefined relationships, the semantic network links together various concepts ranging from the final UI (i.e., the UI described in terms of technological spaces) to the concrete and abstract UIs (i.e., the UI respectively described in terms of concrete interaction objects independently of any technological space, and abstract individual components and containers independently of any interaction modality) up to the tasks and concepts of the interactive system. In this way, plasticity can be addressed at four levels of abstraction (task and concepts, abstract, concrete, and final user interface) for forward, reverse, and lateral engineering. The end user exploits the semantic network at run time to adapt his/her UI to another context of use by identifying, selecting, and applying plasticity suitable operations.

A reference model for distributed user interfaces

This paper proposes a reference model for classifying about different types of Distributed User Interfaces (DUIs) so that one could reason about their types: mouldable, distributable, and migratable UIs. The reference model explicitly captures concepts subject to distribution at different levels of abstraction (tasks, concepts, abstract UI, concrete UI, and deployed UI) so as to provide designers with a specification mechanism that enables them to express distribution. Some representative types of distributed UI are expressed according to the reference model to exemplify its usage.

Building and Using Home Automation Systems: A Field Study

These last years, several new home automation boxes appeared on the market, the new radio-based protocols facilitating their deployment with respect to previously wired solutions. Coupled with the wider availability of connected objects, these protocols have allowed new users to set up home automation systems by themselves. In this paper, we relate an in situ observational study of these builders in order to understand why and how the smart habitats were developed and used. We led 10 semi-structured interviews in households composed of at least 2 adults and equipped for at least 1 year, and 47 home automation builders answered an online questionnaire at the end of the study. Our study confirms, specifies and exhibits additional insights about usages and means of end-user development in the context of home automation.

Magellan, an evolutionary system to foster user interface design creativity

Fostering creativity in User Interface (UI) design is challenging for innovation. This paper explores the combination of model-based approaches and interactive genetic algorithms to foster the exploration of the design space. A user task model is given in input. Magellan produces sketches of UIs that aim at inspiring the designer. Later on, appropriate tools may be used to tune the right design into the design right. Magellan is a proof of concept that deserves further exploration. Currently it is implemented using COMETs but it is not dependent of this technology.

Adaptation des interfaces homme-machine à leur contexte d'usage : Plasticité des IHM

Mobility coupled with the development of a wide variety of access devices has engendered new requirements for HCI such as the ability of user interfaces (UI) to adapt to different contexts of use. By context of use, we mean the triple . This paper first analyses the problem space of adaptation then proposes a reference framework covering both the development and execution of plastic UI. This framework helps in structuring the state of the art. It emphasises two open issues that we propose to address by an agent and conceptual graphs-based approach. The paper is illustrated on a running example CamNote that supports the presentation of slides in different contexts of use.

An MDE-SOA approach to support plastic user interfaces in ambient spaces

User interface (UI) plasticity denotes UI adaptation to the context of use (user, platform, physical and social environment) while preserving usability. Our approach to this problem is to bring together MDE (Model Driven Engineering) and SOA (Service Oriented Approach) within a unified framework that covers both the development stage and the runtime phase of plastic UIs. In particular, an interactive system is modelled as a graph of models that can be dynamically manipulated by, and/or encapsulated as services.

Comet: a new generation of widget for supporting user interface plasticity

Adaptation of User Interfaces (UI) to context of use is becoming a major issue in HCI. By context of use, we mean the <user, platform, environment> triplet. Plasticity refers to the ability of UIs to withstand variations of context of use while preserving usability. Based on a reference framework that provides designers with a powerful tool for reasoning about plasticity, this paper addresses plasticity at the level of interactors. Comets (COntext sensitive Multi-target widgETS) are a new kind of widget that support adaptation at any level of abstraction: concepts and tasks, abstract, concrete and final UIs. This paper proposes a model as well as run-time software mechanisms that support the design of comets as well as run-time adaptation. Run-time is ruled according to a set of strategies and politics.